Dementia
by Ikari no Ojo
Summary: Dementia is a state of serious emotional and mental deterioration. Gotham was very good at promoting that. In a city filled with corruption and greed, few rise up for the good of people. And those people will often fall...She was a testament to that
1. Welcome Home

Author's note: So I decided, that in order to get back into the swing of things, to write a new story. This one is for the Joker.

On another note, I'll be looking to be updating 'One Day' and 'Our Gang's Dark Oath' as soon as possible. I've been so out of the loop with life in general that I couldn't find any inspiration to write. I'm hoping to change that now that I'm out of school.

I'm going to do things a bit differently with this story. I'm going to Quinton Terrentino the beginning, which means that this chapter is actually the_** end**_ of the story, well more like this is part of the end of the story. When the actual last chapter is written it'll be much longer than this.

Songs for the chapter:

"Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria

"Animal" by Mindless Self Indulgence

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His eyes burned with the fires of hell as he narrowed his onyx gaze. With a habitual lick of his lips, he pushed the greasy strands of hair from his face with the small knife he kept in his pocket as he took slow, deliberate steps towards her.

"Care to…ah…care to re_peat_ tha_**t?"**_ he hissed as he came closer.

She hadn't been so terrified of him as she was at this moment. None of the abuse she suffered at the hands of this maniacal clown matched up to the fear that she felt now. It was as if poison was coursing through her veins, burning her from the inside and shutting down all bodily functions. Her feet were frozen to the concrete as she tried to compose herself.

"I said this game of yours won't work. You'll lose…again. You are slipping Joker, no longer are you the Clown Prince of Chaos in Gotham. You don't strike fear in anyone anymore".

Joker's wicked painted grin stretched wider as he bared his yellow teeth, the scars on his face emphasizing the danger that lurked under the smile. With another step closer to her he had her throat in his gloved grasp. As she struggled against him, clawing feverishly at his arms and trying to pry him off her , his laugh echoed all around her.

"You rea_**lly**_ don't know when to qu_**it…DO YOU?"**_

His calm voice had broke and he snarled at her, slamming her into the concrete beam beside them. Tears formed in her eyes as she felt herself lose consciousness.

"Shh…shh…it's ok"

He was mocking her now. He knew she feared him, he could see it and he was _**loving **_every moment of it. Licking his lips again, he firmly pressed his lips to hers before pulling away with a diabolical chuckle.

"Wha_**t'**_s wrong ah?"

She mustered up the little strength she had left and spat in his face, taking satisfaction that it had made him stagger back. But in that instant she regretted it. The hand on her throat moved her from the beam and slammed her down onto the floor with an animalistic snarl.

"You …ah…you mess_**ed**_ it all _**up. **_I don'_**t **_like that. _** NOT. ONE. BIT!"**_

The Joker placed his knife against her cheek and laughed as tears streamed down her face. He moved the knife from her cheekbone, pressing down so the blade severed the skin and the crimson streamed down her face. Dragging the blade, he made his way down to the corner of her mouth before letting up.

"Let's put a **_smile_** on that face"

With that, he proceeded to do his previous actions to the other side of her mouth as he choked her air supply. She knew if he kept this up she would perish and she struggled, the pain from his carving making her thrash and writhe, only spurring on his actions. His chuckle echoed in her ears as he straddled her in order to keep her from moving. Removing his hand from her throat, he smirked as she gasped for air and narrowed her amber eyes at him.

"Now, now dar_**ling…**_wouldn'_**t **_want…ah…yo_**u **_to get hur_**t"**_

"You are sick…deranged even"

Her words only made him snarl and she felt a sharp pain erupt from her gut. Crying out in pain, she tried to bite her lip as she felt the sides of her mouth tear open and the warm feeling of blood pouring from her wounds rolled down her cheeks. The Joker only cackled madly as he hopped over her and slammed a lead pipe onto her leg. She could hear the sickening crack of her leg breaking under his force and bile filled her mouth.

There was no escape as he continued to pummel her with the pipe. Tears mixed with blood and only made him happier. He giggled as he grabbed her cheeks roughly, applying pressure to the fresh cuts on her face. She yelped and he giggled more. She knew this was where things ended, where her life fell into hell as this devil kept his hands on her. He claimed her and she bared the evidence.

"Why so _**serious?"**_

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_**Author's Note: Thank you for reading!**_


	2. Neverender

_**Author's note: Well here's the official start of the story. I hope you all enjoy it.**_

_**Song of the chapter: "Neverender" by Coheed and Cambria**_

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Gotham was busy as usual. People buzzed about, each in their own worlds as they made their way to their destinations. Cars honked and beeped at people in the streets, the sounds of screeching tires creating a symphony of chaos as cars and people alike moved out of the way. Heavy footsteps met the pavement as a figure ducked and weaved their way through the crowd of people, hoping to make it to their destination in record time. Finally coming to their destination, the figure caught their breath before smiling at a familiar person standing by the door to Wayne Enterprises.

"Josephine, you know you are cutting it very close right?" came a man's voice.

At the door was a man, about the age of 53, with warm blue eyes that twinkled with laughter as he caught sight of the woman before him. She stood with her hands on her hip, slightly uncomfortable with the suit she had been told to wear to her job interview. Her raven hair was layered nicely and came down to her jaw with her bangs coming down to her eyebrows. Her eyes were narrowed at the man before her playfully.

"Uncle Dean I cannot believe you even suggested me to work here!" she said, her voice full of disbelief and a hint of disdain.

"You need a job Josephine. Not only have you graduated from Gotham University with honors, you have the opportunity to work in the technical branch of Wayne Enterprises" said Dean.

Josephine shook her head lightly as they walked into the building. True, she had done well in school, but that was mainly in part of her love of knowledge. As a child she had hardly ever been seen without a book in her hand. Where most girls were disgusted by having to dissect animals in science classes, Josephine had loved it. She had been able to learn more about the creature that way.

"Yes I know Uncle, but this feels an awful lot like a charity handout to me" said Josephine with a worried smile.

"Why?" asked Dean.

"Because you have worked here for twenty years and have been on good terms with Mr. Wayne for as long as you've worked here. I don't want to get this job solely on this fact" Josephine said as they stepped into the elevator.

Her uncle hadn't said anything, instead just smiled and shook his head. It had been seven years since that fateful night, the one that had quite literally ripped her family apart. The memory of it made her ill and was the source of her insomnia.

"You are thinking about it again aren't you Josephine?" asked Dean.

"You know I can't stop thinking about it. Seven years ago my world was torn apart Uncle" she said softly as she tried to keep the tears from welling up.

"Did you sleep at all?" he asked.

"No" she said simply.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. In the seven years since Josephine had come to live with him, he hadn't known her to sleep more than 3 hours a week. Whenever she closed her eyes, she relieved the same nightmare she was forced to witness when she was only seventeen. His heart dropped as he thought of his sister and her husband, how they died and what he had done.

"Can we not speak of this anymore Uncle?" Josephine asked.

Dean was more than willing to oblige as they made it to the top floor where Bruce Wayne was waiting with Lucius Fox to interview Josephine. She began to fidget with the cuffs of her suit and her uncle chuckled beside her. Glancing down, he saw she had worn ballet flats which explained how she ran to the office. He opened the door to Bruce's office and allowed for Josephine to enter before him and then shut the door behind them as he followed suit.

"You must be Ms. Josephine Winchester. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Bruce Wayne and this is Lucius Fox" said a man who was seated at the head of the table beside another man.

He appeared to be in his late twenties, early thirties and had a certain charm about him. His hair was a dark brown and neatly kept, his eyes were a warm brown. Josephine met his gaze and saw a flicker of sadness behind them before it was smothered by the warmth. Raising her eyebrow ever so slightly, she took note of that and filed it away before reaching her hand out to him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wayne" she said politely as the other man smiled at her.

Lucius was an older man. His salt and pepper hair gave that away, but his smile was as warm and inviting as Bruce's was. He had a piercing in one ear and beauty marks speckled under his eyes.

"And I am Lucius" said Lucius as he shook her hand before they motioned for her to sit down.

"So your resume is rather impressive. It says that you attended Gotham University, where you majored in networking and minored in psychology. Tell me, what made you pursue two totally different subjects?" asked Bruce.

"I love technology, and I love working with it. I've been working with computers for about six years now, ever since I got my first laptop from my Uncle when I turned seventeen. When I got it, it was broken and he told me that if I could fix it, I could keep it. As I looked at the pieces, my head managed to map out a visual of it and I eventually figured out where the pieces fit to make it work. Ever since then I've worked on computers for people. As for psychology, I like knowing about what could possibly make someone tick" she said calmly.

Bruce listened to her speak and watched her with the gaze of a predator. He noted her mannerisms, how she sat, her facial features, looking for any sign of lying. But he saw that he could find nothing. There was no lie in her words. She hadn't tried to over play her abilities, instead telling him just what she could do.

"Ms. Winchester, if it is ok with you, I'd like to put you on a trial period. You will be working with Lucius in the IT department" said Bruce.

Josephine rose an eyebrow and glanced at Lucius. Bruce noticed her suspicious look, her mind already working and processing what he said.

"Isn't Lucius the CEO of the company Mr. Wayne?" asked Josephine, not quite getting what Bruce was playing at.

Bruce smiled again and chuckled as her uncle shook his head. Lucius smiled as he shared a glance with Bruce. The girl had done her homework, something Bruce was relieved about. He didn't really want to give the girl a job solely based on her uncle's relationship with his father , but when Dean explained her past, he felt compelled to help her. She was similar to him, and he knew her pain. But he felt guilty, only giving her a job because she needed the money to get her own apartment and pay for her therapy. So when she asked that question, he was relieved to know that he could give her a job based on her abilities.

"He is, but he also does a few side projects. They are rather advanced in the technology field and are prototypes, ones we are thinking to sell to the military" said Bruce.

"Weapons?" said Josephine.

"Almost, but not quite. More like surveillance" said Lucius.

Josephine thought about it for a moment. Here she had an offer to work for a big name company, doing what she enjoyed. It was a start in the right direction, something to help get her feet back on the ground. She had spent seven years living off her uncle and she felt bad. She felt that she needed a change, a new start. The three men stared at her expectantly. They wondered what was going on through her head, why she was hesitating when most people would be jumping at the bit to get the job.

"I'll do it" Josephine said, determination lacing her words.

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_**Author's note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**_


	3. The Technology Wiz

**Author's Note: Here's another update!**

**Song of the chapter: 19-2000 by the Gorillaz**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OC's, I don't own Batman or anything DC related. **

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"So you said you've worked with technology before?" asked Lucius as Josephine followed him down the hall.

"Yes. You see, I was the child who would go on vacations armed to the teeth with hand held game systems and music players. I was the technology wiz in the family, or so my siblings liked to call me" said Josephine with a small smile.

"Sounds fascinating" said Lucius as she entered the office after him.

Needless to say, Josephine had been rather surprised by Bruce Wayne's insistence that she start her trial period today. Though she wasn't complaining, it had seemed a bit sudden. Lucius had assured her that it was simply because Bruce didn't want to waste any time on an employee who couldn't work.

Before her was a room filled with computers, monitors, network towers, and plenty of wires. Josephine's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the room. It was the place where computers went to die. In her head she had dubbed it the Technology Graveyard and her heart pained to see so many computers just left to collect dust.

"Mr. Wayne left all these computers just sitting here?" asked Josephine, not believing what she saw before her.

"Well he did try to get them fixed, however every time he did it seemed as if a higher power did not want him to fix the computers" Lucius joked.

Josephine gave him a wary glance before rushing over to a computer that was covered with what seemed like two decades worth of dust. Wiping her hand across it, she fought back a gag before looking at Lucius.

"Can I bother you for some cleaning supplies? I cannot work in this room with it the way it currently is" she said gently.

"Of course" said Lucius as he walked a few steps down the hall to another door before returning.

Josephine was pleased to see that he had grabbed a soft cloth and cleaning spray that wouldn't be harsh on electronics. With a tiny saddened chuckle, she recalled all the years she had cleaned her family's house.

_'Mom would be proud'_ she thought as she began to bustle about the room.

When what felt like an eternity passed by, Josephine stood in the center of a dustless room that seemed to sparkle with the light of the sun that peered through the windows. It had certainly been an improvement to the way it had looked before. Doing a quick scan, Josephine saw a stack of motherboards lying next to hard drives and video cards before noticing the towers.

A lightbulb clicked on in her head as she grabbed a monitor and a tower before grabbing a screwdriver , popping off the side of the tower to look inside. Josephine was delighted to see that it was empty and enabled her to start from scratch. Grabbing a motherboard, she screwed it onto the standoffs, which held the motherboard in place. Reaching over, she began to connect the power connectors to the motherboard from the power source. Beside her on a piece of foam was a processor which she had gently placed onto the motherboard.

Glancing about the room, Josephine looked to see if she could see any CPU coolers about or any thermal jelly to place the cooler into the computer. With an exasperated sigh, she began to dig about the room once more. After twenty minutes of searching, she had managed to find Arctic Silver thermal jelly and a CPU cooler. She sat back down and gently applied the jelly onto the CPU cooler before mounting the cooler over the processor. Josephine looked at the stack of RAM cards that she had found and looked at the computer she had been working on. With a concentrated look, she picked up the cards and looked through them, making sure that each of them worked with the computer. After finding about four out of the stack of fifteen, she put them into the slots on the motherboard.

After inserting the hard drive, Josephine closed up the tower and connected the wires to the wall and to the monitor before starting it up. When the screen lit up to life, Josephine jumped up and grinned as she glanced at the clock. With wide eyes she had realized that she had only been working for four hours. Her interview had been at 9 this morning and now it was only 1 in the afternoon.

She looked around the room once more and saw program disks which she promptly began to install before collecting all the items that were scattered about and placing them in plastic boxes she found. After all the programs were installed, Josephine gave the room another glance over and was pleased to see that she could see the floor now. Everything had been placed in their rightful places and Josephine had even found a computer chair hidden under a mountain of wires.

Sitting at the computer, she downloaded a music program and filled the silence of the room with music as she sat there in peace. It wasn't until a knock on the door cut through her music did she realize someone was watching her.

"Ms. Winchester?" questioned Bruce as he looked at the young woman with an amused look on his face.

Josephine jumped out of her chair and quickly shut off her music before straightening out her suit, her cheeks painted red in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wayne! I was just done with cleaning this room and I didn't know what else to do!" she said quickly, hoping she hadn't angered her "boss" just yet.

To her relief he simply chuckled and smiled warmly at her.

"Actually, I like what you did with this room. It was just a cluttered mess before, I'm glad you managed to get that straightened out" he said, his tone light and joking.

Josephine simply smiled shyly at his words. What else was she to say to him?

"Did you build this?" Bruce asked as he strode over to the computer she had just been on.

"Yes. I've been working on it since I finished cleaning the Technology Graveyard" she said.

Bruce stared at her with a raised eyebrow and she flushed again in embarrassment.

"At least that's what I called it in my head" she muttered quickly.

"It was a fitting name, trust me" he said with a laugh as he looked over the computer.

It was very well built, obviously done by someone who knew what they were doing. Bruce had watched her work on it with Lucius back in his office. There was a camera installed in the furthest corner in the room hidden in the shadows. He watched as she scoured the room for the parts, knew the types of parts she need and where to put them. He had tested her to prove that she knew what she was talking about and he was impressed to say she passed.

"This is very well built. You said you've been building computers since you were seventeen?" asked Bruce.

"That's correct Mr. Wayne. As I stated in the interview, my uncle had me learn how to put together computers. He told me it would be more reliable that way, rather than all the store bought computers" she said.

Bruce nodded and scanned the computer over once more. He briefly wondered what other things she could do with technology. Lucius had been just as impressed and asked if, when she had become comfortable within the company, they could use her insight to help with gadgets for Batman. Bruce had agreed, as that was what they were hiring to do in the first place. But Bruce had told Lucius she would need to work her way up to that point, he couldn't risk her opening her mouth to the press about his double life as the Dark Knight. He knew she would be smart enough to put two and two together.

"Well, this is all the proof I needed" said Bruce as he headed for the door.

"Excuse me sir?" asked Josephine.

"Your trial period. I had you work in this room for a reason. Lucius and myself monitored your work day, watching as you built this computer. How exactly did you know what parts to use? Have you built this type of model before?" asked Bruce.

Josephine shifted from one foot to the other, a nervous habit of hers as she met Bruce's gaze.

"For as long as I can remember, I've had really good memory. I had these types of computers back at Gotham University. One time in my Computers class we took one apart and looked inside. Ever since then I remembered what the parts looked like, what their names were, and how they fit together" Josephine explained.

Bruce nodded simply before walking out the door.

"You are hired Ms. Winchester" were his parting words.

Josephine couldn't believe her luck. Just the other day she had been sitting at home working on her resume, hoping that somewhere out in the city of Gotham she would be hired. She had begun to lose hope when no one would hire her. Her uncle had tried to tell her that it was alright and that she could stay with him as long as necessary, but she felt bad. She lived with him for seven years and now at the age of 24, she needed to move on with her life.

And she had proved herself to Bruce Wayne, proved that her abilities weren't a lie, and that had gotten her a job at Wayne Enterprises.

But she couldn't help but feel that Bruce's hasty decision to hire her was based on his relationship with her uncle.

Josephine sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She would have to work as hard as possible to maintain the high expectations of her. She owed her uncle that much.

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**Author's note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. The Birthday Massacre

**Author's note: Here's another chapter! This one is...rather graphic I think, so there's a bit of a heads up for you.**

**Thank you to my reviewer Chylea3784! **

**Song of the chapter: "Happy Birthday" by The Birthday Massacre**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is DC comics related, just my own characters**

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_Her school day couldn't have ended fast enough. The summer breeze toyed with her hair as she spoke animatedly with her friends while walking home. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining on the trees and turning their leaves a vibrant emerald color and the sky was the purest blue. Josephine's black and white sundress swayed with every step as she laughed at a joke her friend had told her._

_It wasn't long before she parted from her friends with a wave and a warm smile, her messenger bag strung across her shoulder as she crossed the intersection to head home. Today had been the final day of school, the end of high school until September and Josephine was excited to go home. Having woken up late, she didn't have time to open her birthday gifts. She couldn't have asked for a better day._

_Josephine hummed quietly to herself as she walked down the street. Glancing at the black watch on her wrist, she smiled as she saw she was making good time. With a skip in her step, she rounded another corner and up the steps to her house. The house keys jingled as she placed them in the lock, turning before pushing open the door._

_"I'm home!" Josephine exclaimed with a smile._

_It was eerily silent and she began to worry. Glancing at her wrist again, she saw that it was 2:30 and knew that by now her parents and siblings should've been home. Her eyes scanned the area as her ballet flat covered feet padded about the hardwood floor._

_"Mom? Dad?" she called out, receiving no answer._

_"Claudia? Jeremy?" she called out, again receiving no answer._

_She was confused. Why weren't they home? She knew they should've been home and as she entered the kitchen she couldn't escape the scene before her. Her oldest sibling's body lay crumpled on the floor, laying in a pool of their own blood. Their skull was shattered and the blood matted in their hair, and Josephine could see bone fragments from their skull in the blood pool. Bile rose up in her mouth and she found herself paralyzed with fear._

_"C-Claudia?" Josephine whimpered as she took a step closer._

_'How did this happen?...why?' she thought as she knelt down to her sister._

_The blood stained her dress, turning it to a deep crimson as her hands became painted with the blood. She tried to ignore the sight of the gaping hole in her sister's skull, the window that showed her brain. With shaking legs Josephine pulled herself up and stumbled out of the room. She made her way upstairs and screamed when she saw her brother's body strewn about the halls._

_"Jeremy!" she cried as the tears streamed down her face._

_The dismembered body of her brother, the organs that rested on the floor, his lifeless eyes staring at her, it was too much. She couldn't begin to fathom what had caused this, who would do such a thing. She couldn't take it anymore and lurched forward, her hands on her knees. The contents of her stomach spilled out before her as her body shook in a mixture of grief and shock, her body trying to expel everything in her stomach._

_Once she could do nothing more, Josephine ran into her parent's bedroom hoping to find them safe but she was meant with a horrible sight. There on the bed rested her mother, whose face had been mutilated and skin had been peeled from it to show the muscles and tendons underneath. Her body had been clawed apart, an arm was hanging by a thread and ribs were poking out of the skin and into the air of the room. It looked like she had been thrown onto the bed during a fight and a knife stuck out from the back of her head._

_"M-mom" said Josephine as she tried to keep the sick feeling in her stomach from appearing again._

_Movement from the corner of the room caught her eye and Josephine scrambled to the bedroom that connected to her parent's bedroom, only to find her father soaked in blood with a gun in his hands. He was trembling and muttering to himself, tears streaming down his face as he shook. His gaze met hers and he collapsed onto the floor in a heap. No words were spoke as Josephine took a step forward. The sound of the gun cocking brought her out of her horrible daze as she watched her father look back up at her and put the gun near his mouth._

_"T-time consume me" he whispered as he pulled the trigger._

Josephine screamed as she watched his brains splatter against the wall. It was all gone…her family had been destroyed while she was in school. She lost track of time as she curled up in a ball on the floor, barely recognizing the police rushing in and dragging her out of the house while she screamed and cried.

Josephine shot up out of bed, covered in sweat. Her breathing was labored and she ran a hand through her hair. It wasn't the first time she had that dream, but it was the first time it had played in its entirety. Walking to the bathroom, she tried to keep the haunting images from invading her mind again. The cool water that she splashed on her face calmed her nerves as she walked back to bed. Sitting on her bed, she started up her laptop and grabbed a bottle of soda.

With music lightly playing in the background, Josephine's fingers danced away on the keyboard as she narrowed her eyes. Before her on the screen were police reports of June 24th, the day of her birthday massacre. There wasn't anything new found out and she let out an exasperated sigh as she typed away. A soft voice in her head told her what she was doing was wrong, and she could be found out, but she needed to know all that they knew.

A firewall appeared on her screen and she rose an eyebrow, thinking of the password that was needed to enter the Gotham City Police Department's electronic case files. She racked her brain of all the possibilities , but found nothing. Opening up a program, she watched as numbers scrolled through the newly opened program until a set of seven numbers appeared before her. Josephine put the numbers into the police department's database, finally gaining access to their files.

Her eyes glowed from the light of the computer screen as she sipped her soda, the caffeine in her Coca Cola bringing her some comfort. She read the file on her family, more specifically her father. It stated that he was a top psychiatrist at Arkham, working with the most intense patients. One day he was working with a specific case, a member of one of the mobs that resided in Gotham. This particular one was known for poisoning his victims with a drug that caused severe hallucinations. It was described to be a "bad acid trip" and would show up in toxicology reports as LSD.

Josephine rolled her eyes at that, knowing that it was probably just a stronger version of LSD laced with something else. But her father had turned his back on his patient, believing him to be on his best behavior and never saw the syringe filled with the 'drug'. He was stabbed with it and was dragged out of the room, the guards worried about the outcome. He didn't seem like anything was wrong, just a bit shook up as he believed the patient had been making progress. He had been treating him for three years and each day he acted better and better. But they sent Matthew Winchester home, telling him he needed to relax.

Gripping her soda bottle, Josephine shook her head. There was nothing new in the police report, they never found the person who had poisoned her father. She had been so close to being admitted to Arkham when her uncle stepped up to take care of her, believing that she only needed a safe home to be in. She was glad for her uncle's intervention, otherwise she feared she would've been lost to the madness of Arkham.

"This is going to be a long night" Josephine muttered as she saw the time on her computer's clock.

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**Author's note: thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Spectral

**Author's note: I'm really sorry that it's been awhile since my last update. I've been rather...out of it. But here's a longer chapter to make up for it. And the Joker will be making an appearance rather soon!**

**Also to those wondering, no Josephine is not related to any Batman characters.**

**There's actually no song of the chapter for this update. There's just been too many songs used to inspire me to write that I can't post them all here without making this unbearably long.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Josephine and Dean, I don't own anything from Batman. **

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Standing up, Josephine stretched and opened her bedroom door. After hacking into the mainframes of the Gotham City Police Department she had found she couldn't sleep. But with the reliving of her past, how could she expect to? Her bare footsteps padded down the hall as she made her way past her uncle's room and turned right to open the door that led into a mini weight room. She passed her uncle's study and saw him look up from files, giving her a soft smile that told her he knew that she couldn't sleep.

Staring at the punching bag across the room, Josephine pushed her hair back with a hair band before wrapping her hands up with wrappings. Walking over to the cd player, she pressed play as music blared out from the speakers and she silently thanked her uncle for making the room soundproof.

Josephine thought back to her nightmare, to the fear she felt seeing her family's bodies. The fear melted into anger for her helplessness, for her inability to protect them. Taking her stance, she quickly maneuvered her body to twist to the right as she sent and upper cut to the bag. Her movements soon melted into a flurry of jabs, upper cuts, and round house kicks as she took out her anger out on the bag.

This had been her only release for years. She remembered the day her uncle had turned his previous study into the weight room, stating that it was unhealthy for her to hold onto her pain and anger for as long as she had without a release. So while she worked hard, Josephine turned her anger out onto the bag before her.

She continued her routine as sweat began to form on her skin as the aggressive music blasted out. The kickboxing classes she had taken years ago had helped her formulate her routine. After thirty minutes of kicks and punches, she proceeded to grab a jump rope and did her thirty minutes of cardio. When she could take no more, the burning in her muscles commanding her to stop, she collapsed onto the floor as she grabbed a water bottle from the mini fridge that was beside the punching bag.

"Couldn't sleep again?" said her uncle as he opened the door.

"No Uncle. The nightmare is still as strong as ever" said Josephine.

Dean felt sympathy for his niece. Plagued with nightmares which caused her insomnia, it drove her to unusual nightly rituals which consisted of her rigorous work out session and her immersion into her work. Josephine rose to her feet and shut off the cd player.

"You have work in the morning. Are you sure you are fit to work?" asked Dean as he watched her remove the wrappings on her hands.

"Yes Uncle. You know I can function without a lot of sleep" said Josephine with a faint grin.

"Oh the miracles of copious amounts of sugar and music" teased her uncle as he turned around and went to leave.

"Uncle, when I get my paycheck from Mr. Wayne, I will be moving" Josephine said softly.

"Do what you feel is right. But remember you will always be my niece, my sister's daughter. You will always have a home here with me" he said as he walked back to his room.

Josephine smiled at her uncle before grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off her body. The fatigue began to set in and she glanced at the clock in the room. 3:43 it read and she rubbed her eyes wearily before going back to bed. She had to be up in three hours.

When the sun began to break through the blinds in her room hours later, Josephine pulled herself out of bed and towards the bathroom. Glancing in the mirror she wasn't surprised to see the familiar signs of sleep deprivation. Sighing, she finished up in the bathroom before heading to her room again. Grabbing a green suit jacket and black dress with black leggings from her closet along with her black heels, she proceeded to get dressed before putting a gold necklace around her neck and headed out the door.

Her uncle looked up at her from his coffee and smiled.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"We aren't walking are we?" asked Josephine, causing her uncle to laugh.

"No you only had to walk yesterday because you were running late. I'll drive us today" said her uncle as they left the apartment.

The car ride to work was silent and Josephine was grateful. She wasn't exactly a morning person, but this job was paying good money and she couldn't complain. Soon she was going to be able to leave her uncle's house and live on her own.

As the car turned a corner, Josephine looked out the window and saw a few men wearing clown masks running out of a building. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the scene take place. They were scrambling around trying to get into the van that was parked in the allyway beside the building. One of the men turned his head slightly and his gaze locked on Josephine's before her car moved away from them. The feeling of being watched surged through her and she turned around to see the man still watching her.

"Are you alright?" asked her uncle.

"We just passed by a robbery!" Josephine exclaimed, not sure what to make of what happened in that short time they passed by the scene.

"Why do you think I'm speeding up? It's not safe to linger around a scene of a crime" said her uncle as he glanced in the rear view mirror nervously.

By the time they made it to Wayne Enterprises, Josephine had forgotten all about the crime and the man who had watched her. Making their way to the elevator, they headed up to their respective floors. Josephine was eager to be in her own office, it had become her own private sanctuary and she could work efficiently without any trouble. When the elevator stopped on her floor, she said goodbye to her uncle before heading down the hall.

"Ah Miss Winchester" said Lucius as he smiled at her.

"Good morning Mr. Fox, how are you today?" she asked, a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

"I am well, thank you. But you seem to be tired" said Lucius as they walked down the hall.

"Bad night of sleep" said Josephine.

When they made it to her office, she said goodbye to Lucius and opened her door before shutting it behind her when she entered.

The blinds were up on the window, letting the sun fill the room with its warm light and Josephine felt at peace here. Whatever worries she had seemed to drift off as she turned on her computer and started up some music.

Lighthearted almost summerlike melodies filled the silence and she started to dance a little in her seat before getting up.

"Get up in the morning I can't keep it in. I'm falling all over myself And I could jump out of my skin Wanna break the door down, Just to greet the day 'Cause there ain't nothing that's more certain  
To keep my blues away" Josephine sang as she danced a little around her office.

When she turned around, she froze when she saw Bruce Wayne standing in her doorway with an amused smile on his face. Her face turned bright red as she quickly sat back down and tried to rid herself of the embarrassment of having been caught dancing in her office by her boss.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning" said Bruce.

"U-uh yeah! I guess the music and view from my office just made me feel better" said Josephine quickly.

Bruce rose an eyebrow at her response.

"Long night?" he asked, noticing slight bags under her eyes.

Josephine nodded before lowering the volume on her music.

"Yeah, but I'm wide awake" she said as she stood up.

"That's good. Here's your job for today. It seems last night the GCPD was hacked into and we need to figure out who did it. However, no one down at the precinct could manage to even get a hint of who managed to hack into their database" said Bruce.

"Why are you worried about it Mr. Wayne?" asked Josephine.

"A close friend of mine works there and I throw fundraisers for them from time to time" said Bruce.

"And you just so happened to volunteer me for the job?" asked Josephine with a raised eyebrow.

"Well your resume said that you took a networking class in school. I figured you might know something that the cops don't about how to find a tracker" said Bruce with a smile.

Josephine stared at him like he was crazy. Here her boss was in her office, giving her an assignment to catch a hacker and implying that she was a hacker herself and he could use her to catch this person.

She almost laughed when she realized she was hunting herself down.

"Sure thing Mr. Wayne, I'll get right on it" she said as she took the case file from his hand and he left the office.

Glancing up at the camera on the other side of the room, she shook her head and turned the music up as her fingers danced around her keyboard. Hours went by and all she could find about the hacker was their name was '_Spectral_' and true to their name, there was no trace of them.

Josephine smirked to herself as she leaned back in her chair. It seems she had done a good job at covering her tracks. With the time that was left in her work day, she surfed the internet and found an article about the robbery she had witnessed today.

Nothing was really new about this type of crime, it was very common in Gotham. But the only thing that bothered her was the video featured in the article showed the man in the clown mask staring at a car passing by. A chill ran down her spine and she noted the hunched posture of the man and how his hands were clenched by his sides as his neck craned in an unusual fashion so his eyes never left the car.

When Bruce came back into Josephine's office, he saw her staring at her computer intently while her music drowned out the world. The assignment he had given her was on the desk beside her with only a name written down.

"Spectral huh?" asked Bruce, causing Josephine to jump.

"Yeah, that's all I could find out about them" said Josephine as she placed a hand on her heart to calm it down.

"Sorry for scaring you" said Bruce.

"It's quite alright" she said as she sat up.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her.

Josephine looked at him oddly. Why did he seem so interested in what she was doing? Why did it matter if her work was done?

But then she realized that he was her boss, he could do whatever he wanted.

"There was a robbery this morning and my uncle and I passed by it on our way to work" said Josephine.

Bruce's eyes shifted from her to the computer screen where the video was paused on the clown masked man. What was he looking at? The longer Bruce stared at the clown the more it began to dawn on him just where he had seen this man before.

" Well be care from now on alright?" said Bruce as he walked out of the office.

The Joker was back. The mask was a giveaway and so was the posture. Bruce ran a hand down his face in exasperation. GCPD was already having its hands full with the mass breakout from Arkham a couple of months back.

"Something troubling you Mr. Wayne?" asked Lucius as Bruce entered Lucius' office.

"The Joker is back Lucius. And I get the feeling there's something about Josephine that she's not quite telling us" said Bruce.

"Does this have anything to do with the hacking down at the GCPD?" asked Lucius.

"It does. When I mentioned it, she seemed to almost freeze, but corrected herself. I think she knows who did it" said Bruce as he placed his hands in his pockets.

"Or rather you think she did it?" asked Lucius.

"Yes. It wouldn't surprise me, I mean she obviously has the capability. But I want to know why she would" said Bruce.

"And what of her working with Batman?" asked Lucius with a raised eyebrow.

"I just need to test her abilities a little bit longer before I give a recommendation for her" said Bruce with a smile.

"You think it would be good for her to get involved in crime?" asked Lucius.

"Batman seems to think so. She has a talent for getting information from databases, she's prove that much. I think that Batman sees her as a reliable ally" said Bruce.

"You mean he sees her as a precious tool that can't fall into the hands of anyone else?" asked Lucius.

Bruce gave a shrug of his shoulders as an answer, but his smile betrayed him. Lucius just shook his head and let his boss' response slide. He wasn't in any position to tell him how wrong it was to put a young woman in the line of fire just so the vigilante could have an advantage.

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**Author's note: Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed! And sorry it took so long to update**


	6. Old Friends and Explosions

**Author's note: Thank you to Chylea3784 for their review! Glad to know you like the story!**

**Again, no song of the chapter for this update**

**Disclaimer: I only own Josephine, Dean, and Stephanie. None of the Batman characters are mine**

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"Are you sure?" asked Dean as he stared at Josephine.

"Yes Uncle. It should be fine! I'm just going out to get dinner with Stephanie!" she said as they left work.

"You don't need a ride?" he asked.

"Uncle, I can walk three blocks. Look the sun isn't even setting yet. While I understand and appreciate your concern, I will be fine" said Josephine as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Very well. I'll be returning to work around 6, Mr. Wayne has a project for me" he said.

Josephine hugged her uncle as she made her way down the street to Angelica's Café. It was a quaint little shop that thrived on word of mouth. A smile was present on Josephine's face at the thought of seeing her friend. They had been roommates at Gotham University and surprisingly got along. While Josephine was more bookish, quiet and kept to herself, Stephanie was the polar opposite. There was never a moment when Stephanie didn't have music playing and her side of the dorm was plastered with posters of bands she listened to.

It had been a few years since she had last seen Stephanie as the girl was busy working as a band manager. She was often out of town touring with the bands she worked with and maintaining their schedules. But she always e-mailed, something that Josephine appreciated.

As she turned another corner the feeling of being followed crept over her. Slightly turning her head to the left, she saw a man a ways behind her but with the posture of a lion stalking its prey. She shook off the feeling and continued to walk towards the café. The man continued to follow her, but made no attempt to harm her.

When she finally made it to the café, she was graced with a chime as she opened the door to the café. While the outside of the café looked like nothing special, the inside of it was whimsical and homey. It served as a place for artists to reside while searching for their muse. On Friday nights they had local bands and singers perform, events that Josephine had attended once or twice out of curiosity.

Scanning the room, Josephine searched for her friend in the crowd of people sitting at the tables. When her eyes landed on a mop of bright pink and black hair, she smiled and bounded over.

"Still with the pink hair Stephanie?" she asked, grinning at her friend.

Stephanie's jade eyes snapped up and twinkled with delight as she saw her friend's grinning face.

"Still with the same dull dark hair huh?" Stephanie countered as Josephine sat down.

"I cannot afford to lose my job because I look like a miscreant" she said with a teasing tone.

"It's good to see you again Josie, whatcha been up to?" asked Stephanie, using her old nickname for Josephine and making her cringe with her bad grammar.

"It's what have you bee- oh you know what never mind, you never listened anyway" said Josephine, shaking her head at her friend.

"Glad you are seein' it my way" Stephanie said with a smirk.

"Shall we order?" asked Josephine as the two rose to get their food.

When they sat back down, they began to talk about what they were up to recently and Josephine was pleased to know that her friend had found a boyfriend who was actually a nice person. His name was Jeremy and he worked as a marine biologist in California where Stephanie had been living recently.

"Really glad to know you are doing well" said Josephine.

"What about you?" asked Stephanie as she looked around before proceeding.

"Anything new about what happened with your family?" she asked quietly.

Josephine put her Panini down and sighed. Because of what had happened with her family, Josephine had learned that trusting people was exceedingly difficult and she found herself having trouble making friends. Stephanie was the first friend since then, one that quickly worked her way up to almost sibling status with her compassion and empathy. But even then she still had trouble speaking to her friend about things that bothered her. It had taken her almost a year since meeting Stephanie to even give her the small details of what happened to her family.

"No nothing" Josephine said sadly.

Stephanie nodded and accepted that answer, noticing her friend had become rather withdrawn at the mention of her family. She didn't know much about what happened, just that her family had been killed. And from what she had learned from her older sister that majored in Psychology, Josephine was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So she couldn't really pressure her to talk, it would only make her feel worse.

"That man" said Josephine suddenly.

Stephanie rose an eyebrow and turned to look where Josephine's eyes were. There was a man, about 6'7" with Hulk like muscles, standing in the corner with his hands in his jean pockets. His eyes flitted about the room as if searching for something, or someone. His eyes briefly landed on Josephine and Stephanie could've sworn his mouth turned into a smile before vanishing and he left the building.

"You know him?" asked Stephanie.

"No he..he followed me here. But what for?" asked Josephine, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"So you don't know what he wants?" asked Stephanie.

"No"

"Do you intend to find out?"

"That's like asking me if I want to go searching for trouble"

Stephanie laughed and they rose to their feet. It was getting late and Stephanie had to get up early for a meeting with a new band. Josephine hugged her friend and the two left the café chatting before Josephine froze in place outside the door. There across the street was the clown masked man, his gaze locked on her and his hands clenching and unclenching by his sides.

"Josie, you doin' ok?"

"Yes, fine Steph. We should get going"

And with that, Josephine grabbed Stephanie's arm and led her down the street, knowing that her apartment for when she was in town was rather close to the café. Glancing over her shoulder, Josephine saw the clown follow them down the street with his eyes but never moving to actually follow them. It unnerved her because the pit of her stomach was telling her that bad things were soon to come.

Moments later a loud explosion was heard and the two girls froze. Sharing a look, they both took off towards the sounds of sirens to investigate what had happened. When they made it down two blocks, they saw a building on fire with what seemed like playing cards raining down from the sky.

"Josie what on Earth do ya think you are doin'?" snapped Stephanie as she saw Josephine move to pick up a card.

She didn't answer her friend as she handled the playing card. Turning it over slowly she saw an image of a figure holding its stomach while laughing, with a jester's hat on its head. On the side it read 'Joker', causing Josephine to turn back to her friend with fear in her eyes.

"What's this all about huh?"

"Remember how there was a year's time in between our last e-mail?"

"Yes?"

"Remember the last e-mail I sent you about the goings on in Gotham?"

"Yes? Now what does that have anything to do with this?"

Josephine showed Stephanie the card, watching as her friend's olive complexion paled making her rival Casper. Fear lit up her eyes as she looked back at the scene around them, watching as firefighters tried their best to put out the fires while police officers tried to rope off the area with caution tape. The place had now become a crime scene.

"You don't think he's back do ya?"

"I don't know Steph. I surely hope not. One run in with the Joker is all Gotham needs. I just hope this is a copycat and not the real deal".

Josephine turned around to find the clown again standing across the street but this time his gaze was locked onto the burning building before him. His hunched shoulders rumbled in a way that Josephine swore he was laughing to himself. He moved his gaze away from the fire to Josephine and Stephanie, tilting his head to the side as if questioning them before noticing the card in Josephine's hand. His shoulders rumbled again before red and blue lights lit up the area he was standing. In a moment he took off in what looked like a half skip half run.

"We need to go"

"I agree Steph"

Stephanie grabbed Josephine's arm and led her back the way they came before they eventually stopped in front of her apartment.

"I don't want to even know what is going on" said a tired Stephanie.

"Well at least you are leaving" Josephine said, hoping her tone wasn't too bitter.

Stephanie flashed her a sorry look before hugging her once more and headed inside. Pulling out her cell, she dialed a number and waited as a familiar car pulled up before her.

"I take it you saw the explosion?" asked her uncle as she got into the car.

"Yes. I fear the events of what happened a year ago are repeating"

"If that's the case, then you can't be out late anymore. I can't afford something happening to you"

Josephine sent her uncle a grateful smile as they turned down the streets of Gotham back to their apartment. When they got out of the car, Josephine turned and froze at the sight of a Joker card lying on the pavement by their front steps. Looking towards her uncle, she saw him pulling his briefcase out of the back seat of his car and she picked up the card. When she looked back up, the clown was staring at her again but this time he was in front of her.

She tried to scream to alert her uncle of the man's presence, but he pointed to her uncle and shook his head. The look in his eyes told her that it was a silent order that could not be disobeyed. They stared at each other for another moment before he walked past her, his step light and appeared as if he was skipping lightly away. Josephine turned back to her uncle and saw he had dropped some papers out of his briefcase, which was why he had taken longer than normal to head inside and why he didn't see the clown. Josephine pocketed the two Joker cards before pulling out her house key and opening the door to let her and her uncle inside.

"I'm going to bed now uncle. It's been a long day"

"Ah, well good night Josephine. I shall see you in the morning"

She nodded with a warm smile before heading upstairs. Once she was changed into her pajamas and settled into bed, she started up her laptop as she looked over the playing cards. Josephine was intent on finding out just who this Joker copycat was….if he even was a copycat at all.

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**Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!**


	7. La Dee Da

**Author's Note: Thank you to Chylea3784 for their review! **

**There's no song for this chapter**

**Also I'm sorry for the shortness of the chapter**

**Disclaimer: I only own my characters, I do not own Batman **

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"la-la-la-dee-da, la-la-la-dee-da"

The man in the clown mask walked through the allyways of Gotham with a spring in his step and singing a tune in a very off key, menacing fashion. His eyes flitted about the sea of people before him. All this sneaking around, it wasn't fun. It was boring, simply boring. But it was all a part of the plan.

As he headed down another allyway, he began to chuckle as the sky opened up and rain thundered down to Earth, soaking Gotham's citizens with water. Everyone hurried more to get to some place dry and he noticed a woman rushing past the allyway. The same woman he saw yesterday at the explosion.

"la-la-la-dee-da, la-la-la-dee-da"

He continued to sing behind the mask as he took another step towards the exit of the allyway. A girl who worked with Bruce Wayne, perfect bait to bring out the Bat. He chuckled darkly as he stood behind her as she tried to wrestle with the umbrella in her hand. Her frustration made him smirk behind the mask and when she finally managed to get the umbrella open, her phone rang.

"Yes I know I'm late uncle! I was up late doing research on the explosion. No! I'm not looking for trouble I just-yes, I understand. Is Mr. Wayne upset? Oh that's a relief" she said into her phone before hanging up.

She pocketed her phone once she was done and took off running down the road, hoping it to make it to Wayne Enterprises before she was later than she was already. Something on the ground caught his eye and he looked down to see one of his cards staring back at him with the word 'copycat?' written on it.

So she thought he was a copycat? Oh how very wrong she was. But he couldn't let his game begin just yet, the rules hadn't been established and the players haven't entered the starting space yet. But soon, that's when he'll make them roll the crooked dice. With a maniacal chuckle, he left the allyway as he pulled off his mask and entered the crowd. The rain fell on his face, running down his cheek and into the scars that connected to the corners of his mouth. No one saw him, no one screamed and ran. He made a sound of disproval, but knew it wouldn't help to be walking around in Gotham with his makeup just yet.

As he entered the Wayne Enterprises building, he almost let out his signature cackle when he saw that no one tried to stop him from entering the elevator. The people of Gotham were blind to the Clown Prince Of Crime walking among them and he couldn't have been happier. Now things were getting to be fun!

"Where oh where could you, uh, be ah?"

His dark gaze followed people down the halls as he stepped out of the elevator. He caught sight of her talking to an older man and he licked his lips as he neared her. Walking past her, he lightly bumped into her shoulder and dropped a card of his into her pocket before walking away.

"Hey! You could at least say excuse me!" she said as he stopped.

He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her, taking in her appearance as he did so. She froze and her gaze roamed his body, taking notes and he saw a light of recognition flicker behind her eyes. She recognized him. He frowned as he realized this and opened his mouth.

"Excuse me" he said in a lower than normal voice.

She nodded before turning back to the man before her, but her gaze continued to follow him until he left the hall. Once in the emergency stairwell, he let out a cackle and ran down the stairs, always missing the last step as he jumped over it. The games were one step closer to starting.

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**Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! **


	8. Going Into Hiding

**Author's note: Thank you again to Chylea3784 for their review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter despite how short it was. I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

**And this is the longest chapter to date! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my characters. Anything DC comics related or Batman related is not mine**

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She watched as the odd man walked down the hall. There was something about him that Josephine couldn't shake, something that seemed familiar. Was it his posture? Was it his walk? Or his eyes? She couldn't place it but it bothered her. Turning back to her uncle, she excused herself to head to her office two floors up. Placing her hand in her coat pocket, Josephine thought about that encounter before her mind registered there was something that wasn't there before in her pocket.

Pulling out the item, her eyes widened at the card before her. It was torn and gave off a faint aroma that smelled eerily like gunpowder. Her eyes scanned the card, flipping it over to reveal a message.

_"Little girls shouldn't get themselves wrapped up in danger. The big bad wolf will come and blow your house down. Run, run as fast as you can, you won't escape. We'll be meeting soon- J"_

When the elevator doors opened, Josephine walked out and towards her room before shutting the door and staring at the card as she sat down. A year ago, the Joker left this cards like he was businessman. They were his calling cards, they were also a sign that you were his next target. But he had since been locked up in Arkham, there was no way he could escape that place right? Josephine sighed and ran a hand through her hair before starting up her computer and setting up her laptop beside it.

She still had a lot of work to do, she needed to figure out what happened with her family that night. The Joker copycat could wait, but this was more important. A look of determination crossed her face as she took a sip of her soda that she had pulled out from her laptop bag while she worked, back into the GCPD's databases she went. There had to be something there, something that was hidden. The file she read a few days ago didn't sit well with her, it was like they were covering something up.

Josephine became so absorbed with her work and the music playing that she didn't hear the door open, or see the figure coming to stand behind her until they tapped her shoulder. She jumped a foot in the air before whirling around, fear in her eyes briefly before vanishing at the sight of Bruce and Lucius, along with a man she had never met before. He had light brown hair and matching moustache with warm yet tired eyes behind glasses. Josephine rose an eyebrow at the trio.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes you can Ms. Winchester. My name is Jim Gordon, the Commissioner down at the GCPD. For the past couple of days we have been searching for an individual named 'Spectral' who hacked into our database. They didn't destroy anything, rather it seemed like they were looking for something" said Gordon.

"What did they find?" she asked.

"Nothing. They were hacking into a case file that was closed seven years ago"

"What case file?"

"Your case file"

Josephine's heart dropped when Gordon said that. Suddenly she became aware that Bruce and Lucius were here too and that her laptop was still running. Bruce rose an eyebrow at her behavior before looking beside her computer. He saw the playing card and picked it up.

"Ms. Winchester…where did you get this?" asked Bruce.

"I really don't know Mr. Wayne. I just had it in my pocket" she said.

"Did anyone come in contact with your coat prior to your arrival here?"

"You mean like wear it?"

"Yes, precisely"

"No Mr. Wayne, no one has worn it before me".

Bruce's face paled as he flipped the card over and saw the message on the back. If his face was white before, he was worse now. His hand trembled as he looked at Josephine once more.

"Gordon, take this down to the precinct and have them analyze it. Ms. Winchester is no longer safe" said Bruce as looked back at the computer.

"And take her laptop into custody as well"

"What?" Josephine exclaimed as she looked at her boss incredulously.

Gordon looked at her with a raised eyebrow before taking the card from Bruce, his face falling just as Bruce's had. He looked at the other two men before nodding and putting the card in a plastic bag.

"Ms. Winchester, if he has given you a card, it means you are no longer safe and your computer is at risk" said Gordon.

"Who are we talking about? Is it the Joker copycat?" asked Josephine, still bristling at the thought of having her computer taken away.

"This is no copycat Ms. Winchester"

"But he is in Arkham!"

"He escaped a few months ago, we still haven't been able to track him down"

Josephine felt her world crash down around her. If the Joker was after her, that meant anyone around her would be a target as well. When he wanted to get to someone, he took down anyone connected to them. She winced as the memory of hearing about Rachael Dawes' death a year ago played in her mind. He wanted to get to Batman so he took two people closest to him, tied them to a chair in separate rooms in separate buildings surrounded by gasoline and explosives. He had switched the locations when he told Batman where "Rachael" was hidden, instead sending him to Harvey Dent's location and because it was Batman, he saved Dent much to Dent's chagrin. Rachael wasn't saved in time because the explosives went off as soon as Dent left the building.

"I can't go home than" said Josephine with a sigh.

"Why is that Ms. Winchester? We could put extra protection around your apartment and set up a perimeter to ensure he gets caught" said Gordon.

She shook her head and sat back down, running a hand through her hair.

"I live with my uncle. If the Joker is after me, I can't afford to have him in the crossfire. I wouldn't be able to handle losing another family member, especially not if he was killed in the same fashion as Rachael" she said softly, noticing Bruce's eyes fill with sorrow.

"She's right. It would be very unsafe for her to return to her uncle's house. Ms. Winchester, I am going to get you an apartment in the building where my penthouse is, if that is alright by you. It'll be easier for you to get to a safe house in the event of trouble" said Bruce.

Josephine sat there in silence, wondering just what she should do. She couldn't risk her uncle's life but she didn't want a handout. Bruce had done enough by giving her this job, but now he wanted to buy her an apartment? That was too much, she couldn't ask him to do that. But she knew that she had to accept because what other choice did she have? She couldn't go to Stephanie, that would put Steph in danger.

"Very well Mr. Wayne. I'll accept, but can you ask my uncle to head back home and get my stuff? I can't risk returning. Just tell him that I found a cheap apartment and wanted to move as soon as possible. He'll understand, he knows I don't wish to burden him. I can't let him know what is going on Mr. Wayne" she said.

"Ms. Winchester, you need to tell him. We will have his apartment protected I promise but it would be best that you tell him" said Gordon.

"Ms. Winchester, if you'd like I can perhaps break the news to him? Just to ease the pressure off your shoulders. I'll also deliver the message about your moving to him" said Lucius, who had been soaking up the severity of the situation and finally spoke up.

"Thank you Mr. Fox" she said with a small smile.

He smiled before leaving the room and Bruce, who had been talking to Gordon, turned back to Josephine.

"We need to talk to you about that program running on your computer. When we were looking for 'Spectral', we found a trail. It was very faint and almost undetectable but with help from me, the GCPD managed to find the IP address of the user" said Bruce.

Josephine ran a hand through her hair again, this time cursing herself in her head as she realized she had been sloppy and made a mistake. She was too concerned with how suspicious the case file looked that she let herself get caught.

"We traced it back to your laptop"

She sighed and glanced back up at Bruce and Gordon, a sheepish smile on her face.

"You caught me" she said.

"Why did you do it?" asked Gordon.

"I wanted to know what really happened to my family Commissioner. Something about your police reports didn't add up and it bothered me. The more I looked into it, the more it seemed like someone ordered cops in your precinct to cover it up"

"Ms. Winchester, what you did is a crime"

"I know that! It's just- when I was seventeen I had my family ripped away from me because my father killed them and then killed himself! And yet your report says his body was under the influence of LSD, that a mob member stabbed him with a syringe at Arkham! My father never turned his back on his patients, he knew better than that! And this drug? How come I can't find any reports of it? Not even the Scarecrow knew anything about it!" Josephine snapped, her frustrations running high.

"You spoke of this to Scarecrow?" asked Gordon.

"He worked with my father Commissioner, I knew that if anyone had heard of this drug it would've been him. I didn't walk away unscathed though. That particular visit ended with me being hit with the fear toxin" she said, her voice dying down to a soft whisper.

Gordon stared at the woman before him. She put on a front, acting like she wasn't broken or hurting, trying to be normal and live a normal life. But from what he knew, her family's murder, being under the influence of the Scarecrow's compound, now having the Joker hunting her down, she wasn't able to handle it at all. He could see a few tears roll down her cheeks as she shuddered, thinking about what happened with the Scarecrow. She didn't want handouts because she wanted to show the world and, more importantly herself, that she could handle whatever the world threw at her. She wanted to stand on her own two feet, make it in the world by doing what she loved.

But she couldn't do that with the Joker around. He would never let her rest, he would chase her until she was backed into a corner and destroy whatever sanity existed in her. Gordon looked over at Bruce who looked like he was torn between an important decision. He knew then what Bruce was debating over. He wanted to tell her what his secret was.

"Josephine, may I call you that?" asked Bruce.

She nodded and looked at him as he sat in a chair near her and met her gaze.

"You already know that I lost someone very close to me last year, but I also lost my family" he said.

"They were shot, right?"

"Yes. A man named Joe Chill shot my parents when I was young because he was desperate for money. I wanted to see a show at the theater, but when the bats showed up, I needed to leave. I feared bats".

He looked over at Gordon who nodded before looking back at Josephine.

"How did that change?" she asked Bruce.

"When I was old enough, I left Wayne Manor and traveled the world. I stumbled upon the League of Shadows, Ras- Al-Ghul was the leader of them. He trained me using many fighting techniques and I conquered my fear under the influence of the plant that is used in Crane's fear toxin. And because of this, I became a different person".

"Who did you become?"

"Batman. I wanted to rid the city of the crime that plagued it, but in return, I've caused people to become desperate and much more violent".

Josephine sat there, taking Bruce's confession in as she ran all the details by in her mind. Somehow, it didn't surprise her as much as it probably should've. In fact, it made a lot of sense that Batman was Bruce Wayne. He had the most money in Gotham and could afford to pay for all the gadgets and the suit.

"Bruce, is it ok if I call you that?" she asked him.

He nodded with a smile as he watched her begin to loosen up around him and the Commissioner. He knew she didn't really trust them, and he didn't expect her to right away, but he did want to be able to have her as an ally. Bruce didn't say it, but having the GCPD track her down wasn't as easy as he made it seem. Even he had trouble doing it with the super computer that resided in the Batcave. She knew how bypass firewalls and shut down security systems remotely, her talents would be helpful with his fight against crime. Plus, he knew if she helped him, she would find the closure she was looking for with what happened with her family.

"Bruce, Commissioner, do you plan on turning me in?" Josephine asked quietly.

"No. Gordon and myself had a different idea, one that would be beneficial for all of us" said Bruce.

Josephine rose an eyebrow. She wanted to know what he had to say, how could he possibly have a different course of action that wouldn't put her in jail? She broke the law, hacked into the GCPD's databases, and hid it from her boss.

"We were thinking that it would be best for you to work with Bruce while he fights crime. You wouldn't have to leave your house. Instead you could use your talents to survey the area, look up criminals, basically just make sure that Batman has extra eyes and ears wherever he is" said Gordon.

Josephine thought about it. She wouldn't be drawing attention to herself, so long as she made sure to cover her tracks. And this was an opportunity to find out what really happened with her family, all she had to do was help Batman.

"I'll do it, under the stipulation that I find out what happened to my family and I use '_Spectral_' as my codename" Josephine said.

Bruce and Gordon smiled as the door was thrown open by a very panicked, very angry Dean. He glared at Commissioner Gordon and Bruce before hugging his niece tightly.

"I'm so sorry" he said.

"What for uncle?" asked Josephine.

"You got dragged up in this mess"

"Uncle, I live in Gotham. If I wasn't dragged into something, I was going to at some point"

Her uncle pulled away before turning back to Bruce. He was angry that his boss was making his niece move away from him, mad that he knew it was for the best, mad that the Joker threatened her life, and mad that he couldn't do anything about it. His niece lost so much already, he just wanted her to be happy and live a normal life. But best laid plans always go astray.

"You better protect her Mr. Wayne" Dean said to Bruce.

Bruce nodded before standing up, followed by Gordon and Josephine.

"I will personally drive Josephine to her new apartment. When we arrive, I will call you from the car phone and tell you to bring her stuff over" said Bruce.

"Why not call from the house?" asked Dean.

"Because uncle, if the Joker is looking for me, I'm sure he's keeping someone on his side that can tap phones" said Josephine as she packed up her stuff.

"Ms. Winchester, I'll need your laptop" said Gordon.

"What? I thought-"

"I have a computer specifically meant for what you will be doing" Bruce interrupted.

"You'll get your laptop back once we are sure the Joker isn't following you anymore" said Gordon.

Josephine sighed and rubbed her temple in frustration. Things were getting more and more hectic. She was now being forced to move, she was working with Batman, she was being hunted by the Joker. Why couldn't she get a break? Why was she always thrown into some chaos? Life wasn't fair, she knew that, but that didn't mean it had to be cruel as well.

Once they were all ready, Josephine followed behind Bruce silently as she kept her head down and looking at the ground. She felt almost pathetic. A homicidal clown was out to find her, and yet here she was running away and letting another fight her battle. Glancing at Bruce from the corner of her eye, Josephine knew that she had to let Bruce handle this fight, but that didn't mean she had to like it. And though she was changing locations, what will stop the Joker from just finding her at her new place? If he wanted to find her, he was going to. No one could hide anything from the Joker, he proved that a year ago.

The ride to the apartment was silent as Josephine glanced out the window while Bruce tried to speed down the streets of Gotham in order to get her home before anyone recognized her. Bruce looked over at her, seeing a sad yet slightly angry look in her eyes. He could tell she didn't like having to trust others to protect her and something inside told him that she was bitter that he didn't protect her family. He felt a pang of guilt and sympathy wash over him. He of all people knew how it felt to have your family ripped away from you, but not in that gruesome way that hers had. Reaching over, he began to dial her uncle on the car phone.

"Dean? It's Bruce. We're pulling into the parking garage at the apartment now. Head over with her belongings. Meet us at my penthouse".

When they made it to the apartment building, Bruce rushed her indoors and into the elevator. Pressing the '15' on the side, he stood beside Josephine while the elevator took him to her floor.

"I should probably mention that you have an entire floor to yourself. It's the second penthouse in this building, one that is connected to mine by a hidden stairwell. That's why I wanted you to stay here, it will be easier to hide you should he come to realize you are here" Bruce said as he looked down at her.

Josephine glanced up at him and smiled a bit.

"You put a lot of thought into this building, didn't you?" she asked.

"One can never be too safe here in Gotham. And…I don't want another innocent person to die by the hand of the Joker. When Rachael was killed…I almost gave up. I wanted to throw in the towel and stop being Batman. It had only served to kill the girl I loved"

"But you didn't"

"No. If I did, then who would stop the Joker? More innocent people would die and no matter what it would be my fault. I couldn't live with that thought. So no matter how much I was hurting, I couldn't give up. I did it for Rachael. I did it for my family. I wanted to make them proud"

"I think they would be Bruce"

Bruce smiled at her words. He had hoped his words would help convince her not to give up on her inner struggle. Because she may smile, she may seem normal, but he saw that she was breaking and he knew Gordon saw it too today. She would be easy prey for the Joker. He would only have to taunt her with her family and she would unravel, leaving her a shell of herself. Then the Joker would build her up in his image, hoping to make a statement. He had done it to Harvey and he would do it with Josephine. It was what the Joker did.

Upon entering the second penthouse, Josephine's jaw dropped when she saw it was already furnished and all she needed was her items to make it her own. The walls were a violet color with a white ceiling with a matching carpet floor. Walking down the short hall from the door, Josephine saw that the first room was a living room. The couches were black leather with violet and white pillows with a small black coffee table with a widescreen TV in front of the couch. She turned to the right and entered the kitchen, which matched her living room. All the appliances were black and silver to make them noticeable in the violet and white room.

But it was the bedroom that made her eyes tear up and made her turn to Bruce with a questioning look, asking if it really was ok for her to stay here. The floor had a deep violet carpet with a white wood framed king sized bed on it. To the left of the bed was a small white and purple couch under the window. To the right was a white vanity mirror and dresser. She couldn't believe the sight.

"I –I can't stay here" she said softly.

"Why?" asked Bruce.

"Because it doesn't belong to me Bruce! All it is, is another handout. Please, this is too much" said Josephine as she sat on the bed.

Bruce shook his head before walking over to the wall beside her vanity. He reached behind the mirror and pressed something, causing a door to slide open on the other side of the vanity. There was a flight of stairs and Bruce motioned for her to follow him.

Josephine sighed, running a hand through her hair before following Bruce as the door shut behind them. They walked up the stairs in silence as she wondered where they were going. When they reached the top, Bruce stood in front of a keypad as a beam of light scanned his face before letting them both in. She was intrigued by the mechanisms of the technology as he led her into a very bright room. It took her awhile to adjust to the bright light before looking around the room.

It wasn't extravagantly large, like she had expected, instead it was large enough to hold a case with the Batsuit, a very large computer system, and a variety of weapons. She had just wandered over to the suit when Bruce called her over.

"I need to register you in the system so that you can enter here. Otherwise this room will be useless to you" said Bruce as he typed something into the computer.

"How long did you have this penthouse ready for me?" she asked, standing behind him with her arms crossed.

Bruce hesitated to answer her. How was he supposed to tell her that her uncle had explained her past to him when he asked him to give her a job? And that her uncle had jokingly insinuated that she was a hacker in her spare time and that joke had given him the idea to recruit her? Or how was he to tell her that when he saw her working at his company that he had tested her to make sure she was reliable before having her work for him outside the company? Or what about the whole 'You will be working with Lucius in the IT department' lie he gave her?

"Bruce?" she asked, waiting for an answer.

"When your uncle came to ask me for a job for you, he had let it slip that he thought you were a hacker in your spare time. He meant it as a joke but when he explained that one morning he woke up to his phone having been turned off, despite having a full battery, and when he tried to turn it on it laughed at him and told him to try again later, it made me think" Bruce said.

"So my job was just a cover up for your plans?" Josephine said, her eyes narrowing in anger.

Bruce simply nodded. Josephine couldn't believe what he had just told her. This whole time he had used her! Or he was planning on using her. Her whole job had been a lie and her uncle knew it! It was just a handout because he felt sorry for her, the girl whose family murdered themselves. Her hands clenched into fists as she tried to keep her temper down.

"I am sorry if I mislead you. I didn't mean to Josephine. I just didn't know if I could trust you to work alongside my alter ego. I had to test you to see your abilities" said Bruce.

She took a deep breath to calm down, seeing sincerity in Bruce's eyes. Though she wouldn't be able to trust him after what he did, she still would help him. After all, it would benefit her as well.

"It's ok, let's just do the scan" she said.

Bruce started up the scan and waited as a beam surrounded her body. He watched as the computer pulled up a file of her and began to register her into the system. Once it was completed, he turned back to her and stood up.

"Let's head up into my penthouse. We can have dinner with Alfred while we wait for your uncle to come with your belongings" said Bruce as he headed to the other side of the room and opened a hidden door.

Josephine was going to question him about Alfred, but figured she was going to find out soon so she kept her mouth shut and headed up the stairs with him. But she couldn't help but wonder just how safe she was here.

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**Author's note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! **


	9. Newsfeeds and Phone Calls

**Author's Note: Well, here's the start of Joker being around! Sorry it took so long! I wanted to have a few chapters to get Josephine's character out into the open. **

**I'd like to thank my loyal reviewer Chylea3784 for their reviews! If anyone else is reading this, please don't be afraid to review. I'd like to know what you guys are thinking!**

**Disclaimer: I only own my own characters. I do not own anything DC or Batman related**

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"What do you think boss is goin' to say when he figures it out?"

"You're kiddin' right? You know damn well he's going to kill us all"

"Yeah right! Speak for yourself dumbass!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you lost the girl and you are going to pay the price!"

"You were the one who gave me the wrong address"

The sound of a door opening shut the two goons up right away as they turned to see their boss stalking through the hideout towards them. Though his face was permanently smiling, his eyes conveyed that he was angry. The goons looked at each other as their boss stopped before them.

"Well, uh, _where_is she?"

He stared at the clown masked goons with his frightful gaze. He sent them out on one simple teeny tiny mission to retrieve the girl. He watched as the one goon froze, afraid of his boss' anger. He craned his head at the other goon, urging him to speak.

"Well you see boss, Seth here ran into a bit of trouble" said the one goon.

"It was, uh, just one _teeny _tiny mission boy_s_"

"We know but Seth lost her"

Silence fell over them before their boss burst out into a fit of laughter.

"And I thought _my _jokes were bad"

"We aren't jokin' boss. Seth really did lose her"

Their boss' laughter was cut short as he snarled and grabbed the speaking goon by his throat, bringing him closer to his painted face.

"_you _do, uh, _know_ what the price for _failure_ is righ _t?"_

He didn't even give the goon a chance to speak before a loud BANG echoed around them and his body fell to the ground with a bullet in his skull. The boss turned to the other goon and gave him a mocking grin.

"W_ell,_uh, wha _t _are you going to _do?"_

"Find the girl?"

The goon ran out of the hideout before his boss could decide that he wanted to kill him too.

* * *

Josephine was sitting around the kitchen island in Bruce's penthouse waiting for her uncle when she spoke with Alfred, Bruce's butler. She found it hard to not love the elderly man, he was just very nice and very compassionate. He told her stories of his home, his life before working for the Wayne's, and his life with Bruce. When Bruce's family was killed, Alfred acted like a surrogate father. He gave the best words of wisdom and Josephine thought Bruce was lucky to have him around. Bruce walked into the room while Josephine was laughing at something Alfred said and she turned to look at him.

"Your uncle is here" he said as he led Dean into the penthouse.

"Oh thank goodness! You are ok!" said Dean as he hugged Josephine.

"Yes, yes uncle I'm fine!" she said with a laugh.

Alfred introduced himself to Dean and the three of them got to talking about emergency evacuation plans, should the Joker show up and try to take Josephine. Though everyone was nice and she should've felt safe, Josephine couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't ever going to be safe. Even though the Batman was right beside her, she felt like the Joker wouldn't give up so easily. He proved that a year ago didn't he? Why did they think they could hide her from him? And why did he want her anyway?

"Josephine, I need to go now. Gordon is driving me home, I left my car in the parking garage" said Dean as he hugged Josephine again.

"Alright uncle. Please be careful" she said softly.

"You as well" he said before kissing the top of her head and leaving.

"We should bring your stuff down through the secret passageway. I do not trust most of the people in this building" said Bruce as he headed towards the door they had come through.

When they brought everything down, Bruce and Alfred had helped her get everything situated. Alfred offered to go out and buy her food for her kitchen, she just needed to give him a list of the things she liked. Josephine felt very uncomfortable with this idea, she was practically living in her boss's house and now his butler is offering to help her as well? This was getting to be too much, but she saw the logic in it so she went along with it.

They finished up and Josephine sat down on the couch, turning on the TV as she did so.

"This just in, we have just received a video tape from an anonymous resource about the recent explosion on 25th street and Billiard Boulevard" said the news reporter as a video started up.

It was shaky and looked like the person who would be talking was holding it, Josephine turned slightly to see Bruce gripping the edge of her couch as his eyes narrowed at the video.

"_Good evening_ ladies and gentle_men! _Have you all , uh, _missed_ me? Because I know _ I missed you" _said a voice.

Josephine rose an eyebrow at the person's voice. It was unusual, it was obviously male but his voice was a tad higher than a male's should be. He stressed certain words, which sounded like a husky purr when he did so. But instead of sounding sensual as most people would find something of that nature to be, it was menacing. The pitch of his voice was off and sounded like he was going to break into a fit of laughter at any moment.

"Now don'_t _worry! My game, uh, hasn'_t _ _start_ed jus _t_ ye _t_. You see, I'm l_oo_king for some_one. _I guess you, uh, could say this is a missing persons _re-por-t"_

"Bruce…who is this talking?" asked Josephine.

Bruce looked at her, his eyes showing how he didn't believe she didn't know who it was. He had sent in a video tape last year, when he killed that guy dressed like Batman on TV. But then he realized he had heard Josephine telling Alfred that she hardly ever really watched TV, she was often studying or reading to be bothered with the news.

"It's the Joker" he said simply as he saw her eyes widen.

"_Now_ that I have, uh, your atten_tion, _can someone p_lease_ tell me where I can find Josephine Winchester? Is there a _Josephine _Winchester wat_ching? Ah TA TA TA_ Toots, you already violated my , uh, _first _rule of our li_ttle _game. You see, you weren' _t_ supposed to leave _your_ apar_tment._ Now my boy_s _are going to have _to _go through _all _that trouble to f_ind_you" said the Joker before the video cut out at the sound of his laughter.

Josephine sat on the couch, shocked that he put out a video to find her. What did he even want with her? What was so important about her that the Joker decided to look for her? She turned to Bruce and Alfred who sat in silence, not moving and not knowing what to do.

"This means he went to my uncle's house when neither of us were home to look for me" Josephine said softly.

Bruce nodded before rising to his feet. He had to find out what the Joker was planning, he needed to put a stop to it before it went out of control. Which, if he knew the Joker like he thought he did, it would get out of control either way. He had to control the chaos somehow.

"Josephine, we are going to be starting tonight. I need to go and find out what the Joker is planning. You remember the computer you were scanned with earlier? That is what you will be using. Come on, I'll show you how to use it" he said as he led her and Alfred out of her living room and back into the computer room.

After showing her want to do, Josephine settled down in the computer chair with a bottle of soda that Alfred had brought her and her headset on her head with the microphone stationed by her mouth.

"Alfred will be staying with you" said Bruce after he got his Batsuit on.

"Good luck" she said as she turned back around to face the computer.

When he left, Josephine quickly typed in the pass code to work the computer and was granted access into the mainframe. She began to work her way through cell phone towers to tap into calls in the Gotham City area. As she sipped her soda, she looked through call after call on the map before one made her stop.

"What do you think boss has planned? What's so important about this bitch anyway?"

"I don't know, but he's got us all standing by the hideout for his return"

"Do you think he'll be in a good mood?"

"Heh, I doubt it. Boss isn't ever in a good mood when people don't play his games his way"

"Uh..where is the hideout again?"

"Are you fuckin' kidding me man? You don't know the way to the hideout? Don't you have a map or something  
on that phone of yours?"

"I fucking forgot so sue me! Just give me the damn directions"

"You go up Windsor Boulevard, take a left onto Beacon Street, than make a quick right onto Riverstyx Lane and it's right on your damn left!"

"Was that so difficult?"

"You better fuckin' pray that no one is listening in on our conversations"

Josephine smirked before she sipped her soda. It seemed like the Joker didn't really hire the smartest people. In a city like Gotham, you were better off assuming that someone in the city somewhere has your phone tapped for whatever reason. Pushing the button on her headset, she smiled when it connected to Batman's cowl.

"What do you have for me Spectral?" came Batman's gruff voice.

"So I did a localized cell phone tap to get information on the whereabouts of the Joker, and I heard two goons talking. I got the directions from him. I'm going to send you the map of the area with the location marked"  
"Anything else?"

"No. It seems like the Joker has his men waiting for him out front. Maybe to keep a look out for you?"

"So go around the back?"

"That sounds like a better plan. No doubt you can handle them, but I don't know the exact amount of guys Joker's got working for him"

"Smart move"

"There should be another entrance located on Beaker Road. It wraps around to the back of his hideout, and from what the area looks like on the map, it's very secluded and dark. Here I'm sending it to the Batmobile"

"Received. I'll contact you if there's anything else that I need"

"Roger that Batman"

With that, she took her headset off and muted the microphone before looking at Alfred. He sat at a table beside her playing a game of solitaire. She smiled warmly at him before turning her whole body towards him.

"Would you like to play a game Alfred? I just have to wait until Bat-I mean Bruce contacts me again"

"I would be delighted Ms. Winchester"

"Please, call me Josie"

"Ah right, well. I would be delighted Josie. What game do you have in mind?"

"Ever heard of Phase 10?"

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**Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**


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